Dmitry Orlov

Sunday night, Capitals players held their annual Halloween Party at the Mari Vanna restaurant in Washington DC. The costumes were fantastic.

Superstar Alex Ovechkin slicked back his hair and put on a prisoner costume. His wife Nastya, who I’m guessing was his captor, dressed up as a police officer, potentially giving us an inside look into who truly wears the pants in that relationship. Meanwhile #CapsNeighbors Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky dressed up as stepbrothers and TJ Oshie and his wife Lauren were Mr. and Mrs Smith… with a twist.

Before the Washington Capitals lost to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, fans at Verizon Center were treated to a video package that mashed up Dmitry Orlov’smonstrous hit on Matt Duchene with the Netflix sci-fi hit Stranger Things.

After beginning the year zero for eight on the power play, the Capitals burst out of their goalless drought Tuesday night with two goals in five opportunities. Nicklas Backstrom may be the most important player on the Capitals’ power play, according to the CSN poll between periods last game, but some love needs to be given to the point men. When John Carlson and now, Dmitry Orlov get shots through and feed pucks accurately to Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals power play is virtually unstoppable.

On Wednesday, Orlov spoke about his highlight-reel play with local media. The Russian defenseman was quick to show concern for the Avalanche forward, saying “I think it’s good that [Duchene] didn’t get hurt and was still in the game… and that we win that game.”

Later in the period, the Russian dynamo fixed all of the Caps’ power play woes, authoring a brilliant slap pass to Alex Ovechkin. The Russian machine one-timed the puck past Semyon Varlamov, scoring his first goal of the season.

Over the past four seasons, the power play has been the lifeblood of the Washington Capitals.

Since 2013, nearly one-fourth of the team’s goals have been scored on the man-advantage. Impressive regular season numbers and Alex Ovechkin’s resurgence, led by his one-timers from the Ovi Spot, have all benefited greatly from Washington’s power play firepower. This year, however, one of league’s perennial top units is off to a slow start. Through two games and eight opportunities, the normally deadly Washington PP has come up with nothing.

“We’re leaving a lot on the ice,” John Carlson, who anchors the point on the first power play unit said after Saturday’s win over the Islanders. “For our skill level, our talent, we should have more goals than we do.”

With just over a minute remaining in the second period of the Caps’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Pens, Evgeni Malkin found himself in all alone with Braden Holtby, with enough time to make a sandwich and have half a cup of tea. Malkin, as the world’s best players do when given glorious chances, scored to give the Pens a 2-1 lead as the second period wound down.

There were a couple decisions that led to Malkin’s opportunity. The two main parties involved were Dmitry Orlov and TJ Oshie. Which player is more to blame for the goal depends on how you read their decision-making. Let’s take a closer look.